Where Extermination Sifst Dingussch in 30 August

Dr. Wise stated at a press conference last night that the total extermination of the Jews has been under discussion by the Nazi leaders since August, 1942, The plan, he said, was originally submitted to Hitler’s general headquarters by Herman Backe, Secretary of State for Economics, Under the plan “all Jews living in Germany and German-occupied and controlled countries, numbering some five million, should, after deportation and concentration in certain regions of Eastern Europe, be exterminated at one stroke, in order to solve once and for all the Jewish question in Europe.” The time of execution was set for the Fall of 1942, In anticipation of the execution of this plan, large-scale deportations from all European countries began. The plan of Herman Backe, submitted directly to Adolf Hitler, was based on economic reasons, in order to ease in part the difficult food situation by the annihilation of at least four million persons who would otherwise have to be fed, Rabbi Wise stated.

“The adoption of this plan was delayed through the opposition of a number of leaders of the Nazi party,” Dr. Wise added. “These include Dr. Frank, Governor General of the occupied-Polish territories, who opposed the plan, not on humanitarian grounds, but on the grounds that the Jews were artisans or specialists in industries, and could ease the shortage of labor in Poland. The plan was also opposed on the same grounds by Heinrich Himmler, Chief of the Gestapo. Despite this opposition, however, the plan was finally accepted, and Hitler signed the order calling for the mass deportation of Jews, with a view to their ultimate extermination

Dr. Wise gave the following as the latest reliable figures on Jewish populations in German-controlled countries:

Dec, 1939 Now Dec. 1939 Now Germany 200,000 40,000 Netherlands 180,000 69,000 Austria 75,000 15,000 France 300,000 235,000